The present invention relates to a therapeutic anatomical support of the type generally used to apply pressure around and about a portion of a limb to reduce swelling and to provide protection and support during the convalescent period following joint surgery or joint trauma and during the treatment of shin splints.
One of the most common types of limb trauma is the sprain, usually defined as any strain-induced injury to a joint that results in a possible ligament or tendon rupture, but does not cause any skeletal dislocation or fracture. Sprains are especially common at the knee and ankle joints because of their locomotive and weight-bearing functions and occur almost as frequently at the joint of the elbows and wrists. They are usually followed by a significant amount of swelling due to diffusion (escape of fluid into a tissue or cavity) and edema (excessive accumulation of water fluids in the tissue spaces). Although the initial treatment of joint sprains necessarily varies with the severity of the sprain, the final phase of treatment usually includes the application and prolonged wearing of some type of protective, supportive and movement-resisting wrapping around the affected joint. It is not uncommon, even with moderate sprains, for this wrapping to be worn for a period of several weeks or months.
A common type of limb trauma occurring away from a joint is that where a muscle of the lower leg is torn from the side of the tibia or shin bone. This type of injury, referred to non-medically as a shin splint, occurs most often among skiers and basketball players and its treatment includes the application of a compressive wrapping to hold the affected muscle against the bone.
Several means have been devised for applying supportive pressure around and about a joint or other affected limb area. These include the application of adhesive tape, either as a single long strip or as a number of shorter strips, such as the commonly used Gibney ankle strapping consisting of fifteen individual adhesive strips, each of a different length; successively wrapping the affected area with a single strip of elastic material, such as that utilized in Hoey U.S. Pat. No. 3,805,781; and ensheathing the affected area in elastic or non-elastic sleeves of various shapes, sizes, and materials.
One of the main disadvantages of these conventional types of compressive limb supports, especially those formed from single or multiple strips of adhesive tape, is that, to ensure correct support and movement resistance, they must be applied by a physician or other medically-skilled person. Even then, it is difficult to achieve selective pressure differentials along the length of the support because of the difficulty in controlling the tension in the tape as it is wrapped around the limb and, therefore, almost impossible to predetermine the supportive and compressive result with any degree of accuracy. The use of a number of strips of adhesive tape rather than a single long strip, affords some selective reinforcement, but since the tape is usually non-elastic, the result is selective support and movement resistance, but not selective compression.
Also, an adhesive-tape support, once it is removed, must still be reapplied by an expert and, therefore, cannot be readily removed and reapplied in the home for purposes of bathing and massaging the injured limb.
The substitution of a long strip of elastic material for the adhesive tape results in a limb support whose compressive force is easier to control as the strip is applied by varying the amount of tension on the strip as it is wound around the limb, but the effect of this control is impossible to accurately predetermine. In addition, the requirement for an expert to properly apply the strip is not eliminated. The patient must still return to the physician's or therapist's office each time the support is to be removed and reapplied.
Non-elastic sleeves, even those capable of being selectively reinforced by inserting a rigid support member into an external pocket sewn into the outer surface of the sleeve, are useful mainly for support and not for compression. Sleeves of elastic material have been used to provide both compression and support, however, until now no means have been disclosed to effectively predetermine the amount of compressive force applied at any given point or area around the ensheathed portion of the injured limb or to effectively predetermine the amount of joint movement resistance provided by the sleeve.